


Paint Me in Trust

by acefluff



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Asexual Woozi, Asexuality, Best Friends, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Onesided JeongCheol, Platonic Relationships, Smoking, idk what to tag, mentions of the other members, well almost fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 23:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11724786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acefluff/pseuds/acefluff
Summary: Jeonghan was good at knowing things without asking.(Jeonghan helps Jihoon figure things out on a rooftop when a party becomes too much)





	Paint Me in Trust

**Author's Note:**

> People are going to get tired of me always writing ace characters but the world needs more of them so I don't plan on stopping. 
> 
> The title is from Human by Dodie Clark and Jon Cozart 
> 
> I'm surprised at how quickly I finished this because it's the longest thing I've written in a while. But I've been procrastinating and hiding from life so I've just spent the weekend writing.

They were talking about girls again. 

Actually, that’s not true, some of them were talking about boys. 

And Jihoon was uncomfortable and didn’t want to talk about either, because he didn’t _want _either (or at least he didn’t ‘want’ in the way that the others ‘wanted’).__

__What he did want was for the floor to swallow him up, but it didn’t so he was forced to participated anyway._ _

__So he pretended he was interested, and he named a girl in his philosophy class he thought was kind of pretty and he left out the part explaining that he didn’t feel anything towards her except for a sort of appreciation for her being pretty._ _

__And, somehow, Jeonghan knew._ _

__Jeonghan was good at knowing things without asking. He was always the first to pick up on someone being uncomfortable or intimidated. His good intuition was something that everyone was grateful for because it meant more understanding with fewer awkward conversations._ _

__He’d taken note of Jihoon’s responses in similar conversations they’d had before, so he knew that Jihoon was lying when he said that he liked the girl in his philosophy class. He also knew that Jihoon was not interested in the conversation, and that Jihoon wasn’t really going to work on an essay on Friday and he just made that excuse so he wouldn’t be dragged to a club._ _

__Jihoon could tell by the way that Jeonghan looked at him that the older boy knew he was lying through his teeth. Of course Jeonghan didn’t say anything, but he remembered and he didn’t partake in pestering Jihoon about crushes after that._ _

__And Jihoon appreciated that._ _

__

__

__Jihoon sighed and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the cool spring air. “This is much better than being inside that stuffy apartment.”_ _

__It was a few weeks later, finals were over and Soonyoung had insisted that they have a party before they all separated for the summer. So the thirteen of them and some other mutual friends had all cramped into Wonwoo and Jun’s apartment with too much alcohol and not enough food._ _

__But Jeonghan was getting annoyed at seeing Seungcheol with his girlfriend and Jihoon was tired of the noise and the drunk girls asking him to dance, so the two of them escaped up to the roof. They stood next to each other, leaning against the wall built on the edge to stop people from falling, looking out at the city lights._ _

__“Yeah.”_ _

__Jeonghan pulled a pack of Marlboros out of his pocket and lit one up. He took a drag and offered it to Jihoon who refused._ _

__Jihoon frowned. “Since when do you smoke?”_ _

__Jeonghan exhaled, the smoke curling almost artfully up into the night sky. “Since I developed feelings for my roommate, who is not only one of my best friends but who is, apparently, straight and has a girlfriend he adores.”_ _

__Jihoon rolled his eyes._ _

__The stood in silence for a while; Jeonghan slowly smoking his cigarette and Jihoon trying to make out the stars through the all the air and light pollution._ _

__Jihoon broke the silence. “I almost wish I was in love with someone who didn’t return the feelings. At least I’d be normal then.”_ _

__Jeonghan frowned, stubbing out his cigarette on the bricks before flicking the butt off the roof. “Okay, one: I am not _in __love _with Seungcheol, I just happen to have feelings that are too strong to be considered just friendship. And two: what do you mean you’d ‘be normal’?”_____ _

______Jihoon turned around and sat down with his back to the ledge._ _ _ _ _ _

______He shrugged. “I mean I’d be normal.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“But how are you not normal?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Because it turns out I don’t have the standard emotions and desires of a human being.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Jeonghan pushed his glasses further up his nose and sat down next to the younger boy. “You’ll have to elaborate on that for me.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Jihoon groaned, tipping his head back so he could keep searching for stars hidden behind smog. “Like… When I went to meet Soonyoung after his dance class last week? He just kept talking about how hot Jun looked when he’d been dancing and was all sweaty and stuff. And some more things that I don’t really want to repeat.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Jeonghan laughed. “So, Soonyoungie has a thing for Jun? I had a feeling there was something there! They’d be a good couple.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Jihoon snorted. “Yeah, they’d be cute and it’s great, but Soonyoung talking about Jun like that made me realise I’ve never, ever felt like that. About anyone. I’ve never looked at another person and thought, ‘hey, I think I’d enjoy getting naked with you.’”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Jeonghan sat up straighter and looked at Jihoon. “Like… never? Not even if you’ve known the person for a while and have a deep emotional connection?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Not even then. The closest I’ve ever gotten was thinking that someone was beautiful and that if I could draw I’d draw them. That’s it.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Interesting.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Jihoon scoffed. “What do _you _mean by _interesting _?”_____ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan didn’t answer and reached into his pocket for another cigarette._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Jeonghan?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan didn’t reply until he’d lit the cigarette and taken a few drags._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He turned his head to face Jihoon and asked, “Do you know what it means to be asexual?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon frowned. “You mean like when plants can reproduce by themselves? How does that have anything to do with what we were talking about?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan coughed on the smoke he’d just inhaled, trying to hold back his laughter at Jihoon’s confusion._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“No, not asexual in that context.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What other context is there?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“The LGBT context.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon groaned. “We’ve been over this before, I’m not interested in guys.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You’re not interested in girls either though, are you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Silence._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I guess not.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Exactly.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon bent his knees so he could rest his chin against them. He fiddled with his shoelaces. “I still don’t understand.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan crushed the cigarette under his shoe and left it on the ground. “It’s a sexual orientation, Jihoon. It means that you don’t feel physically attracted to other people.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You’re messing with me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I’m really not. It’s a real thing.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yeah, right. People who don’t have natural human urges? Sounds legit.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan shook his head. He reached into the pocket that didn’t contain his cigarettes and pulled out his phone. Jihoon went back to his shoelaces and left Jeonghan to text or whatever it was he was doing. Suddenly, the phone was thrust into his face. The browser was open on a webpage._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Read this.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________And Jihoon did._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Everything the website listed sounded like him, and it said that there were lots of people who felt the same way._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan watched, a knowing smirk on his lips as Jihoon’s eyes widened almost comically as he read._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon mumbled, “What the fuck…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________And Jeonghan smiled. “See?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon stretched his legs out and leaned forward over the phone in his hands. “Oh my god.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yeah.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Shit.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan laughed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon passed the phone back. “It’s actually a thing. It’s not just me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It’s not just you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon took a shaky breath. “I’m not… weird.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“No. You’re not.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan put an arm around the younger boy’s shoulders and pulled him closer. Even though Jihoon hated physical contact, for some reason he didn’t ever push Jeonghan away._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________But he didn’t usually lean in and return the affection._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The others had all noticed that Jihoon was more likely to accept affection from Jeonghan than the rest of them. This only encouraged Soonyoung and Seokmin to poke Jihoon’s cheeks and Seuncheol to hug him and Mingyu to rest his chin on Jihoon’s head. Jihoon always tried to shake them off. But when Jeonghan put his hand on Jihoon’s shoulder or hugged him from behind or leaned against him during movie night Jihoon just let him be._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Soonyoung had asked Jihoon a few times whether or not he had a crush on Jeonghan, and every time Jihoon denied it because he didn’t and he didn’t even understand himself why he never pushed Jeonghan away. There was just something comforting about Jeonghan that the other guys didn’t have, something that made Jihoon trust him and feel secure enough to be vulnerable around him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________It’s not that he didn’t trust his other friends, they just didn’t have that same softness that Jeonghan did._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________They stayed on the roof, sitting in silence, for a while longer because Jihoon didn’t want to go back to the sexually charged students in the apartment and Jeonghan didn’t want to run in to Seungcheol and his girlfriend again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Eventually it got too cold to be outside so they stood to leave._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan asked, “How do you feel?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon paused to contemplate how to put his emotions into words. “Relieved, in a way. You know, because I’m not the only one. I keep repeating it in my head because it’s not familiar yet. And I feel like I have this really cool secret? But at the same time I almost want to lean over the edge there and shout about it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan laughed. “You could do that, if you really want to.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon considered it. “Nah, I’m good.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan laughed before asking, “Are you going to tell people?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Eventually, when I’m more used to the idea.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Are you scared?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Kind of.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Why?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon didn’t answer._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Jihoon?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What if they think it’s weird and don’t want to be friends with me anymore? I know I sound like a kid, but I’m being serious.”Jeonghan frowned. “Jihoon, almost none of our friends are straight. If any of them judge you for this they’re the biggest shit heads ever.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jihoon laughed at the unexpected answer. “I guess you’re right.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________They started walking down the stairs to leave the roof, went to collect their coats from the party and snuck out before they could be dragged back in, Jeonghan promising Jihoon fries and a milkshake as the door closed behind them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________When they got out of the building and started walking down the road to the closest fast food place Jihoon broke the comfortable silence._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You’ll help me, right? When I tell them.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeonghan smiled at his blushing friend and said, “Of course I will.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> I'm very soft for this ship <3
> 
> There's a thread on Twitter of Jihoon being soft with Jeonghan and I melt every time I see it because it's so completely adorable. I've never seen this as a romantic ship, just a really cute and affectionate friendship. 
> 
> I've been trying to write this fic for months and it never turned out how I wanted it to until this draft happened.


End file.
